The congregation at Bridge Church in Alberton, Johannesburg, has grown considerably oover recent years, prompting the church to undertake a renovation, increasing its capacity from 400 to 900. As part of this, Stage Audio Works (SAW) was brought in to design, supply and deliver a complete audio overhaul, plus a turnkey house lighting and additions to the existing stage lighting, complete with flexible control for all systems.

SAW was referred to the project by Lee Thomson, a SAW Project Sales Manager, who is also a member of the church and who had observed the successful delivery of many similar solutions.

‘This project was especially important to me as it is one of the initial Plus Audio installations that we’ve carried out in the house of worship market,’ he says. ‘It’s great to see the technology being put to good use – they get a new system providing the required headroom, coverage and even intelligible audio reproduction on a very reasonable budget. I can help my church operate and provide in situ training, and SAW can add another satisfied customer to the list.’

SAW’s brief was to provide a significant upgrade to the church’s audio system, resulting the complete replacement of the existing point source solution with a higher quality Plus Audio system to accommodate for a larger audience and the installation of a new Yamaha CL3 console with RIO stageboxes to provide more inputs and outputs. They also required an overall control solution for the house lighting, LED switching and air conditioning.

‘After hearing the brief and inspecting the site, we specified a Plus Audio line array solution comprising eight PA14i boxes with a curvature of 15°, and a further four with a 30° dispersion. These were arranged in two /R hangs and supported by four powerful sub-bass loudspeakers on the low end,’ says Stage Audio Works CTO, Nathan Ihlenfeldt. ‘We went with a Plus Audio solution as it simply delivered the best performance for its price point. With this arrangement, we were able to engineer a system that provided the required coverage and SPL level, while maintaining a very high standard of fidelity.’

To help with the acoustic treatment at the church, SAW called on the assistance of acoustician Bruce Gessner, who has worked with SAW on several occasions. He provided his expertise for the duration of the project.

SAW also provided a sophisticated control system, based around a Q-Sys core. This grants staff total control over the facilities in the building’s main areas – the auditorium, foyer, café, deck and even toilets.

Propelling the house lighting element, SAW integrated 36 sleek Stage Plus RGBW LED lights with integrated convection cooling. The stage was covered by six Acme wash lights, fixed to a trussing solution provided by Total Fabrications. Both solutions were also connected to and controlled by the Q-Sys network.

‘One tricky aspect of the install was that the church was still being used as a regular venue every Sunday,’ says SAW’s Jared Dollery who coordinated the installation project. ‘This meant that we had to adapt our timeline and deliver the project in segments, so that the space was still fully functional at the end of each week.’

‘We were aware of Bridge Church’s intentions to expand going in, so it was definitely something that we took into consideration,’ Ihlenfeldt adds. ‘Upgrading the network to be Dante-compatible with two new Rio stageboxes and a Yamaha console provides more flexibility with the current system, as well as guaranteeing future scalability.’

‘We’re really happy with the upgrade; the SAW team were extremely supportive and reassuring throughout the process, and they delivered exceptionally on all fronts,’ reports Pastor Nikki Coleman.

Her husband and fellow church leader, Pastor Trevor Coleman agrees: ‘We’re thankful that Lee connected us, and it will be a huge benefit going forward to have someone on board who understands the system. Our goal is to eventually cater to an audience of 3,000, so obviously we will be looking to expand the system down the line, and we’ll be sure to call on SAW’s expertise when that time comes.’

More: www.stageaudioworks.com